A salute to our carriers

October 13, 2012

They bring good news and bad news, day in and day out. You probably take them for granted, often not thinking about them unless it's time for their annual Christmas tip, or if, God forbid, they fail to do their job.

Who are they? They're newspaper carriers, of course. That group of unsung heroes who get up in the wee hours of the morning every day to deliver our newspaper to your doorstep or paper tube. Most of them rarely miss a delivery. They know that if you miss your MoJo fix, it can ruin your day so they remain vigilant.

They may not have a memorable slogan like the U.S. Postal Carriers do, but "neither snow, nor sleet, nor dark of night" will keep newspaper carriers from their appointed rounds. And, unlike the post office, our carriers deliver seven days a week, not just six.

Today is International Newspaper Carrier Day, a day set aside by the Newspaper Association of America as part of National Newspaper Week, which this year has been celebrated from Oct. 7-13.

More than 44 million newspapers are delivered each day across the United States. No matter how much we have modernized the production of our daily newspapers with computers and digital technology, the delivery of the printed product is still done the old-fashioned way - with a dedicated human workforce.

We salute our carrier force today and recognize them for the great job they do every day. And if you're up early some morning and catch them at work, please take the time to tell your carrier how much you appreciate the work he or she is doing.